Priming mechanism for hydroturbine air pumps



Feb. 12, 1929.

|. c. JENNINGS PRIMING MECHANISM FOR HYDROTURBINE AIR PUMPS Filed Aug.4, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 12, 1929. 1,702,118

' r I. c. JENNINGS PRIMING MECHANISM FOR HYDROTURBINE AIR PUMPS File dAug. 4. 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 12, 1929. 1,702,118

- l. c. JENNINGS PRIMING MECHANISM FOR HYDROTURBINE AIR PUMPS Filed Au1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN'VENTQR BY [I M7 W"MS- I A TTORN J Feb. 12,1939. 1,702,118

I. C. JENNINGS PRJIMING MECHANISM FOR HYDROTURBINE AIR PUMPS ,5Sheets-Sheet 5 BY by aw/ ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 12, 1929.

ii r o si IRVING 0; JENNINGS, or sou'm Noaw LxmoN Eomcur,-

PRIMING MECHANISM roe HYnRoruieBrNEAmenities;

ApplicationJfilediAugust 4, 1926. Serial No. 127,163.

This invention relatesto a sewage ejection While the invention is ofgeneral application tohydro-turbine air pumps, it is partic-' uflarlyuseful in connection with such pumps when forminga part of. a sewage eecting system or when otherwise operated inter:

mittently for short intervals only. U

In a sewage ejection system,-such asis shown inmy prior Patent No;1,4;92,171, is-l sued April 29, 1924, it is customary to provide aclosed tank or, sewage receiverinto which sewage or other liquid mayfiow'by "pumping action and thispumpiis shown as driven and as .bein g''controlled -Whena-. V

A-in the drawings-'in which i I Fig: 1 is: afront GlGVatIQII-Ofcertain;sewv I age ejecting'zr'nechani'sm, partly :insectionya' andshowing thei'general operation'ofmyin-'1 by a float in the sewagereceiver."

gravity and fromzwhich it is ejected by subi jecting the receiver to a.suitable air pressure, causing the sewage to be discharged through anoutlet pipe past a suitable: check valve. I

The airpressure in the system disclosed'in'i my prior patentis suppliedbya hydro-tun bine air pump of the type using water for its being motorpredetermined amount of sewage has'entered the receiver, the floatcloses the switchand the pump forces'air into the receiver, ejecting thesewage through the discharge p pe. A" hydro-turbine as soon-as the pumpceases to'rotate, as the ceiver fills rapidly, tends to delay the restoration of the pump to operating condition when it is started bythe'float controlled switch. There is frequently 'sufiicient air:the-pump casing to delay the, proper distribution of the operating waterpressure inv in the casing,

The improved pump; and

pump has a special. advantage I when used 1n such asystem becauseit'provides a natural vent for the sewage receiver leaving an open air'passage been foundithat'the rush of air out through'the pump', as thesewage reand I This-is objectionable, asit'reduces the-sew age capacityofthe system, which is preferv I 1 ablyso designed thatthe-sewagereceiver. may,

be available to receive sewage during the:

greatest possible proportion of the time and j so that the receiver willbe emptied immedi{ ately after a charge has been'received. I

With theseoperating conditions in mind, ltjlS thergeneral object of myinvention to provide improved means for priming a hydro-turbine air pumpas it is'placed in'op- 613131011' in-a- 'sewage ejection system,.jto;the

intent that ismay more: quickly pick up its load,

A further object of myinvention isto. provid'e means for primingahydrosturbine air.

pumpin the upper partathereof, thu'sgequailiz- "mg the water in thedifierent lobes of thei L v v v Another object of theinvention is toprimea hydro-turbine air pump by delivering water under substantial{pressure direct to V certain portions'of the pumping chamber. 7

An important. feature of my invention re-1f flates to means forsimu'ltaneously controlling 1 the supply of priming water and theoperationi of the .hydro-turbine ai'r pump, so that P theprimingiwatermay bexinjected onlydur- I ing: the operation 30f the air pump.

oMy;invention further relates to a rrzuige merits and combinationsof'partsl which will I be hereinafterdescribed and, more particui;

larly pointed out inatheappendednclaimsy A preferred form of theinvention is shown "vention; I I A Fig; 2ris-a sectional side elevationof the mechanism for controlling the switch and priming valve, the partsbeing-r h wn in sition for, pumping;

' Fig. 3 isa similar viewbut showing the- 5 parts :in inoperativeposition; V

nism shownf'ni Figs. 2 m *3,-v and also in cludes. apartial'longitudinal sectionaheleva tion of a hydro-turbine'air pump;

of theairrpump 1 Figs; 7 and 8 are Fig; 6 is a longitud'nal. sectionalelevation transverse. sectional dle-T- vations, takenalong g the lines17 an'diS- -B:

Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation of the priming valve. 7 I

General construction.

Referring particularly. to Fig. 1,, I will first describe briefly thegeneral operation of a sewage ejecting system to which my. improvementsare particularly applicable. 7

I have indicated a-sewage tankor receiver 20 having an inlet pipe21 andan outlet pipe 22 and having check valves 23 and24preventing flowthrough said inlet and outlet pipes in a reverse direction.A'hydro-turbine :air pump 25' has a discharge pipe 26opening into theupper part of the tank or rece ver 20 and when in operation the pumpdelivers air under pressure to the upper part of the receiver 20,forcing the sewage out through the discharge pipe 22. 1

The pump 25 is preferably motor driven and is controlled by afloat 27inthe receiver 20,, which operates to close a switch and start the airpump motor when the sewage reaches a predetermined height in thereceiver. The switch is opened and the pump stops when the sewage fallsto a predetermined lower level in the receiver. As soon as the pumpstops the 7 operating water flows to the lower part of i .When'theairpumpis again placed in oration, it is necessary for the operatingwabe e'lfectivelyoperated and it is also common--- prises a rotor 30rotatable in a'ca'sing'31 hav 'ing the substantially elliptical outlinebest shown in Fig. 8. An inlet pipe 32I-is connect" ed to an inletchamber 33, portionsof which extendon both Sides ofthe-rotor chamber 31.

ports or connectionsof-the pump."

the casing, as indicated in Fig. 8, uncovering the upper inlet port 34and permitting tree escape of air fromthe receiver 20 throughthe pipe 26and outof the port 38.

ter to beevenly' distributed around the entire periphery'of the casingbefore the pump can 1y necessary to provide a certain amount ofso-called make-up water to take theplace ofwater which may have escapedthrough the" Nashv air pumpg' Certain details of construction of the airpump shown in my prior patent are shown in Figs. 5to 9 of thisapplication, which will be;

briefly described to make the operation Ofmy improved priming mechanismmore easily understood. I 7 L The air pump shown in the drawings comUpper and lower inlet. ports 34 and 35 connect the inlet chamber '33. totherotor chamber 31 where'they are aligned-with openingsv 36 formed inthe side walls or end plates 37 of the rotor-30. These endplates 37 areomitted p in Fig.8 to more'clearly illustrate the opera; ti'on of themachines l Outlet'ports 38 8) tor chamber when the pipe 41, L

p are disposed alternately w th inlet ports 34 and 35 and connect therotor "chamber 31 with an outletchamber 39 (Fig. 7 communicating througha passage '40, (Fig. 8) with an outlet or discharge pipe 7 ,41 throughwhich compressed air is delivered by the pump. I I I The rotor chamber31, when the pumpis in operation, is largely filled with Wat-Q1,Wl1l0l1,is carried-around with ,the'rotor as it rapidly rotates, and which tendsto distribute itself substantially uniformly around the ellipticalperiphery of the rotor chamber. The water thus forms, in effect, aplurality of water pisfi tons between the blades ofthe rotor, whichwater pistons alternately draw air into the inlet ports 34 and 35 anddischarge the air through the outlet ports 38,211]. as fully-describedin the prior patent to ash, No. 1,09l,- I

529, issued March 31, 1914. I

When the pump comes to rest, the operating water flows t0 the lower partof the casing (Fig. 8), collecting in the lower portion of the inletchamber 33 and the lower portion opened to the atmosphere. The sewagereceiver 20 or other air container connected to the discharge pipe 41 isthus etfectivelyvenb ed througl'i. the inlet pipe 32. I If there is avery rapid flow of, air through the connections described, a certaindegree of air pressure. may be built up :in the. pump casingiandconnections, which may more or less seriously interfere withproperadmission and distribution of operat ng Water in the ro Primingdem'ce.- v Accordingly, I have provided aqpriining' pipe 50-(Fig.projecting through the outer V. '7 casing of thea1r pump into the inletchamber '33 and preferably aligned with. one ofthe upper inlet ports 34.The pipe 501119; controlled by a shut-ofi' valve, 51 which, inthepreferred form, is connected to the. mecha} 105. g pump is againplaced e A n operation andconsequentlythebuilding'upj of a desired airpressure in theqdischarge nism which actuates the switch whichcontrols'the air pump-motor. These conn'ec-r' tions will be hereinafterdescribed-but briefly stated, theyoperateto ,-open the valve '51 when Ithe switch is closed to, start the motor, sothat pr1m1ng :water will besimultaneously and forcibly injected tlllIOP-gli the pipe 50 to theinlet chamber 33 and through the port-34mm of cpera ting wateresutiicplace it, imai m-cdiately in operation and the primingwater' thepoclrets inthe upper partqof the.rotorfiO. 'lhe'rotorthuspromptlyreceives-asupply},

inlet pipe'32, which latter pipe is commonly 9 quickly than willhappen-if the water remaining in the bottom ofthe pump casing isdepended upon entirely to, supply Water for the pumping action.

Having thus described my invention and the advantagesthereof I do notwish'to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than as setforth in theclaims, but" what I claim is 2-.- V

1. sewage ejecting system comprising a sewageir'eceiver having'sewageinlet and discharge pipes, a motor-driven hydro-turbine air pumpconnected to said receiver, said air '7 pump being alternately operativeto vent and dischar e said receiver a float in said re- I ceiver, aswitch'controlling the pump motor,

a'valveto open and close a priming pipe for sa d pump, and connectionsfrom said float to said switch. and valve through. which said parts maybe moved with asnap action.

2. A sewage eJecting system comprising a sewage receiver having sewageinlet and d scharge pipes, a, motor-driven hydro-turbine airpump'connected to said receiver, said air pump being alternatelyoperative to vent and discharge said receiver, a float in said-receiver,a switch controlling -the pump motor,

a valve to open and close a priming pipe for said,pump, and connectionsfrom said float .tosaid switch and valvethrough which said parts may bemoved with delayed snap action after a substantial rise in the waterlevel within said receiver. 7 V

3; A sewage ejecting system comprising a sewage receiver having sewageinlet and dis- 7 charge pipes, a motor-driven hydro-turbine 7 air pumpconnectedthereto and alternately operated to vent and'dischargesaidreceiver, a float in said receiver, a switch controlling the pump motor,a control to'admit priming v i water to the pump, and a lost motion con-'nection; between said float and said'switch,

a float in said receiver, a switch controlling the pump motor, a controlto admit priming Water to the pump, a lostmotion connection between saidfloat and said switclnan additional snap action connection between saidfloat and said switch, and a; connection be tween said snap action andsaid control. I I

5. In a hydro-turbine air pump employing waterforits pumping action, arotor, a rotor chamber having inlet andoutlet ports, means to start andstop said rotor, 'and means 'eflec priming water-to said rotor .tive tointroduce chambenareceiver to which said pump is connected forcontrol.of fluidyflow therein, a floatin said receiver, said priming means,

and said starting'and stopping means being controlledby said float,andsimultaneously operatech' i 6; In a hydro-turbine air pumpemployingwater for its pumping action, arotor, a rotor chamber lltlVlIlgllllGtand outlet ports, means chamber, a receiver to which said'pump isconnectedfor control of fluid flow therein, a

float in said receiver, said priming means and I said starting andstopping means being controlled by said float and simultaneously oper- Yto start and stop said rotor, and means efl'ectiveto introduce primingwater to said rotor ated, and connection between said float and saiddual means through which said means is abruptly operated with a snapaction.

' In t ny-whereof I have hereunto at fixed my Signature 7 a IRVING or.JENlNIJNGS;

